HIGH SCHOOL ICE HOCKEY: Lawrenceville, PDS hoping next meeting can live up to their last

When the Lawrenceville-Princeton Day School classic ended both coaches pointed to the prospects of a future meeting.

The Big Red and PDS are scheduled to play in the Hill Tournament at the end of the season and one can only hope it’s in the tourney finals.

I don’t know if Pottstown, PA can recreate the amazing atmosphere that was inside the Loucks Ice Center two nights ago.

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One section of the bleachers clad in PDS white another section in Lawrenceville Red and definitely not a seat in between.

There was a high level of intensity on the ice and a great showing of school spirit in the stands.

“I told the boys that they are lucky to play in a game of this magnitude,’’ said Lawrenceville coach Etienne Bilodeau. “There was more people here before the warm-ups they we’ve had all season.”

Unless you bleed PDS blue and white, it would be hard for a fan to be disappointed. The game was never more then a one-goal lead and four times it was tied.

Then to have the stunning ending with Jordan Kaplan getting the game winner for Lawrenceville with just 40.4 seconds left was unbelievable.

The game followed a better script then The Mighty Ducks.

Bachner Memorial Game a Success

They annual David J. Bachner Memorial game between West Windsor-Plainsboro North and South was held last Saturday and it was a huge success.

Bachner was a star pitcher at North and headed to Seton Hall when he died way too early. But, his memory lives on with the Foundation that provides money to help support underprivileged athletes, community scholarships and local charities.

The games was a thrilling 3-3 tie between the neighboring schools and the opening puck was dropped by Dave’s parents, Rhonda and Steve. North captain, Matt Strober and South’s Mike Morabito lined up to take the ceremonial face-off.

The event had a chuck-a puck contest and it raised $3,000.00 for the Foundation. The winner of the contest was the Bensky Family from North and they graciously donated their winnings back to the Bachner fund

DiTosto Returns

Matt DiTosto returned to the Princeton lineup last Friday. The senior forward quickly made his presence felt getting the Tigers first goal.

DiTosto was sideline with a hard injury that kept him out for six weeks.

“I got injured out of anger and the wasn’t fair to my teammates,” said DiTosto. “I know I have to make it up to them. I intend to bring my ‘A’ game every time I’m on the ice.”

Hun Looking to PDS

The Raiders are coming off a tough loss to St. Joe’s (Metuchen) and now it’s a couple left turns on and off Route 206 to Princeton Day.

“It’s important for us to play well,” said Hun coach Ian McNally. “This is a game that is a measuring stick for our program. They are one of the best and if we claim to be an up and coming program we have to be able to make some noise in these games.’’

It is a game the Raiders are looking forward to as a young program and one Princeton Day is looking at to get back on track after the tough Lawrenceville loss.

Ice Chips

•The CVC is just 5-11-2 in out-of-conference games. Notre Dame is 3-0 and the other wins have come from Robbinsville and Princeton.

•The Princeton Day and Princeton High girl’s took to the ice on Wednesday and the Panthers came away with a 6-2 win. It was Katie Alden’s first career start in goal for the Panthers and she recorded several saves. Six different players scored for PDS. Lucy Herring had both Tigers goals.